1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a web service provision system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a new utilization form of software using the Internet referred to as “software as a service (SaaS)” has been in the spotlight. In the past, in order to use software, a user needed to purchase a software package and then install it in his/her personal computer (PC). Meanwhile, in SaaS, software operates only in a web application server managed by a web service provider outside a company, and a user uses functions of software with a web browser of a client terminal connected to the web application server over the Internet. According to SaaS, the initial cost entailed in server installation and the maintenance cost subsequent thereto become unnecessary, and it is possible to flexibly cope with an increase or decrease in the system scale. Thus, companies are increasingly changing their business applications such as mail or groupware to SaaS recently.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-070015 discloses a system in which an inside SaaS server having the same applications as those in an outside SaaS server is provided in a company, and a database inside a company is synchronized with a database outside the company so that the data desired to share can be shared between the inside and outside of the company.